as 12 european countries, including the dominant german and french communities, prepare for the introduction of the euro, great britain stands pretty well alone in witholding the sacrifice of it's currency.. january 1, 2002, sees the complete ending of the mark, franc, escudo, peseta, drachma and other currencies as most of europe chooses to totally adopt the new monetary system, the euro.. britain has come in for a welter of criticism for holding back from joining the rest of europe until it deems that the time is right.. recent figures now show that britain has the highest gdp in europe, trailing only behind the usa and japan worldwide.
the foretold recession is also reckoned to miss britain, a growth of 2 - 3% holding up the economy.. a recent survey shows that the british now spend almost 21% of their income on leisure activities, whereas the rest of europe manage an average of about 12%.. is this a good time to be british?
maybe so, if recession hammers into the us and japan it could well be the best country in the world to live in once more.. englishman.. bring on the dancing girls!
Germany: I have often visited Germany, their system is entirely different to the UK. Often, Father, son, daughter, grandchildren etc, become part owners of the same property ...
I have a suspicion that this is already reflected in the much lower home ownership percentage of Germany (around 40%, not 70%). Though there's always reason to be cautious with statistics, I'd be very surprised if the people compiling these numbers wouldn't factor in such differences.
f.
why jehovah's witnesses are the "happiest people on earth".
thus spake homer simpson:.
"those germans!!
Nice post, Scully. It's interesting that some languages have words that fit _exactly_ what you want to describe, and you can't really translate them (such as the French "esprit" or the German adverb "halt"). Which is why I really admire good translators.
They called it Schadenfreude, which literally means shameful joy.No, shameful joy isn't really a literal translation. Schaden means damage, Freude means joy. The word doesn't contain a value judgement like "shameful".
f.
as 12 european countries, including the dominant german and french communities, prepare for the introduction of the euro, great britain stands pretty well alone in witholding the sacrifice of it's currency.. january 1, 2002, sees the complete ending of the mark, franc, escudo, peseta, drachma and other currencies as most of europe chooses to totally adopt the new monetary system, the euro.. britain has come in for a welter of criticism for holding back from joining the rest of europe until it deems that the time is right.. recent figures now show that britain has the highest gdp in europe, trailing only behind the usa and japan worldwide.
the foretold recession is also reckoned to miss britain, a growth of 2 - 3% holding up the economy.. a recent survey shows that the british now spend almost 21% of their income on leisure activities, whereas the rest of europe manage an average of about 12%.. is this a good time to be british?
maybe so, if recession hammers into the us and japan it could well be the best country in the world to live in once more.. englishman.. bring on the dancing girls!
Essentially, a BS pays interest to its investors whilst charging interest to it's borrowers. The interest rate is linked to the bank rate, so that, theoretically, a lender will always make some interest from the borrower.
Thanks for the link, Eman. But as I understand it, the difference between bank and building society is quite exactly nil from the viewpoint of national economy.
BTW, I have tried to get some data on home ownership in Europe by way of Google. Unfortunately, my trusty OECD CDROM at home doesn't include that. According to a recent Guardian article, Britain doesn't seem to have such a top position in home ownership (which surprised me):
Low interest rates, as well as huge demand from foreign and domestic buyers, have led property prices in Spain and Portugal to surge over the past four to five years. These countries have a strong tradition of home ownership - 80% of Spanish homes are owner-occupied... Italy, like other southern European countries, has a high level of owner occupancy - around 70%.Source: http://money.guardian.co.uk/theeuroandyou/story/0,11453,623703,00.html
According to a very interesting paper (or actually slideshow presentation) I found in that search,
- mortgage debt was at 60% of GDP in 1994, which is very high compared to the rest of Europe. As you say, housing seems to play a very important role in Britain.
- about 80% of outstanding personal debt in the UK was at floating rates in 1996, which is also very high. This would appear to confirm my suggestion that rising interest rates will become a problem for the "deficit spenders" quite soon (assuming that interest rates will go up within the next year).
Source: Huw Pill, Monetary policy in three currency areas ( http://www.people.hbs.edu/hpill/JCHS.pdf)
The graphs are really quite interesting. Britain has somewhat high levels of home ownership, but not _very_ high compared to other countries. If you take France for comparison, there isn't much difference. However, the reliance on floating-rate mortgages is drastically higher in Britain than anywhere else (again, look at France!). I wonder why?
f., who can't help being fascinated by macroeconomics, even though most people think that's boring :-)
as 12 european countries, including the dominant german and french communities, prepare for the introduction of the euro, great britain stands pretty well alone in witholding the sacrifice of it's currency.. january 1, 2002, sees the complete ending of the mark, franc, escudo, peseta, drachma and other currencies as most of europe chooses to totally adopt the new monetary system, the euro.. britain has come in for a welter of criticism for holding back from joining the rest of europe until it deems that the time is right.. recent figures now show that britain has the highest gdp in europe, trailing only behind the usa and japan worldwide.
the foretold recession is also reckoned to miss britain, a growth of 2 - 3% holding up the economy.. a recent survey shows that the british now spend almost 21% of their income on leisure activities, whereas the rest of europe manage an average of about 12%.. is this a good time to be british?
maybe so, if recession hammers into the us and japan it could well be the best country in the world to live in once more.. englishman.. bring on the dancing girls!
Eman,
Most of this buying money is obtained using a mortgage via a Building Society, not a Bank. Traditonally, we Brits save with a B.S. collective also.I don't know enough about your "Building Society" system, and I've never heard about a "B.S. collective" (it just sounds like a description of the Governing Body of JWs ). Can you explain that a bit?
Of course, with all economic statistics, there's always the question what exactly gets into them and what doesn't (which is why there are different types of unemployment ratios, for example). Same goes for savings ratio, which is definitely very low in Britain compared to, say, Germany.
f.
as 12 european countries, including the dominant german and french communities, prepare for the introduction of the euro, great britain stands pretty well alone in witholding the sacrifice of it's currency.. january 1, 2002, sees the complete ending of the mark, franc, escudo, peseta, drachma and other currencies as most of europe chooses to totally adopt the new monetary system, the euro.. britain has come in for a welter of criticism for holding back from joining the rest of europe until it deems that the time is right.. recent figures now show that britain has the highest gdp in europe, trailing only behind the usa and japan worldwide.
the foretold recession is also reckoned to miss britain, a growth of 2 - 3% holding up the economy.. a recent survey shows that the british now spend almost 21% of their income on leisure activities, whereas the rest of europe manage an average of about 12%.. is this a good time to be british?
maybe so, if recession hammers into the us and japan it could well be the best country in the world to live in once more.. englishman.. bring on the dancing girls!
It is very interesting this whold European unity thing. Has anyone read any of Hal Lindsay's books. He talks about The united Europe as being part of bible prophecy. I'm not saying I agree with him totaly but he does have some interesting ideas.
I, for one, think that Starbucks Coffee is a significant fulfillment of bible prophecy: "There will be pestilences" (Matt. 24:7).
f.
as 12 european countries, including the dominant german and french communities, prepare for the introduction of the euro, great britain stands pretty well alone in witholding the sacrifice of it's currency.. january 1, 2002, sees the complete ending of the mark, franc, escudo, peseta, drachma and other currencies as most of europe chooses to totally adopt the new monetary system, the euro.. britain has come in for a welter of criticism for holding back from joining the rest of europe until it deems that the time is right.. recent figures now show that britain has the highest gdp in europe, trailing only behind the usa and japan worldwide.
the foretold recession is also reckoned to miss britain, a growth of 2 - 3% holding up the economy.. a recent survey shows that the british now spend almost 21% of their income on leisure activities, whereas the rest of europe manage an average of about 12%.. is this a good time to be british?
maybe so, if recession hammers into the us and japan it could well be the best country in the world to live in once more.. englishman.. bring on the dancing girls!
Inflation is so low that you could skate on it.
Well it's not that much different from the Euro zone (which had just slightly more than 2% for November), and I wonder how long it lasts, considering that Britain's Central Bank tends to lower interest rates more aggressively than the ECB.
You also have to ask yourself how Britain manages to be somewhat decoupled from the economic slowdown of its main trade partners (EU and USA): this growth comes from the British consumers. Private households spend more money, and considering the traditionally low savings ratio in Britain, they're probably spending quite a bit of borrowed money now that interest rates are low. Sometime next year, Her Majesty's central bank will begin raising interest rates again to counter inflation pressure. That's going to hurt those households with debts.
(And You Know would say: "I predict that within 3 months, British economy will come to a crashing halt and you'll share the fate of Argentina, riots and all. Let's make a little wager!" )
Romania, Roybatty? Ha ha!He's probably confusing it with Rome? ;-)
Anyway, I don't pick my favourite countries from GDP growth rankings. There are more important parameters, as seen in my personal "country with decent places to go skiing" list (Austria, Switzerland, France, Canada, USA are the leaders here), or the "country where you can get decent coffee anywhere" (Italy, France, Austria, most of Southern and Eastern Europe) ranking, or the "country with a variety of excellent beers" (Belgium, Britain, Germany) list, or the "country with the coolest language" list (Finland, Hungary, China are on top).
Seems impossible to find one country that has it all, but I'll keep searching. I've heard good things about New Zealand...?
f.
2000 years ago there was a man born contrary to the laws of nature.
this man was reared in obscurity.
earthly riches were not important to him.
Names of great scientists, philosophers and theologians have come and gone; but the Name of this Man abounds more and more.
Ever heard of a chap commonly known as "Mohammed"? ;-)
f.
(edited for spelling)
as 12 european countries, including the dominant german and french communities, prepare for the introduction of the euro, great britain stands pretty well alone in witholding the sacrifice of it's currency.. january 1, 2002, sees the complete ending of the mark, franc, escudo, peseta, drachma and other currencies as most of europe chooses to totally adopt the new monetary system, the euro.. britain has come in for a welter of criticism for holding back from joining the rest of europe until it deems that the time is right.. recent figures now show that britain has the highest gdp in europe, trailing only behind the usa and japan worldwide.
the foretold recession is also reckoned to miss britain, a growth of 2 - 3% holding up the economy.. a recent survey shows that the british now spend almost 21% of their income on leisure activities, whereas the rest of europe manage an average of about 12%.. is this a good time to be british?
maybe so, if recession hammers into the us and japan it could well be the best country in the world to live in once more.. englishman.. bring on the dancing girls!
As 12 European Countries, including the dominant German and French communities, prepare for the introduction of the Euro, Great Britain stands pretty well alone in witholding the sacrifice of it's currency.
As a matter of fact, the Euro has been around since 1999-01-01. From that point on, Peseta, Mark or Franc haven't been more than different names/units of the same currency. The fact that EUR notes and coins will replace national notes and coins beginning with 2002 is mostly a psychological change, I'd say.
Recent figures now show that Britain has the highest GDP in Europe, trailing only behind the USA and Japan worldwide. The foretold recession is also reckoned to miss Britain, a growth of 2 - 3% holding up the economy. ... if recession hammers into the US and Japan it could well be the best country in the world to live in once more.GDP per capita isn't all there is to quality of living. Actually it doesn't say much unless you look at income distribution as well, and inflation rates, and savings ratio...etc.
If you consider things like crime statistics or less quantifiable factors such as a high quality public health system, Britain doesn't really excel there. I'd guess that environmental statistics don't look that good, either, but that's just a guess.
All in all, Britain's decision to not join the EUR makes perfect sense at this point, but sooner or later the situation is bound to change.
f.
hi.
i wish all jehovah's witnesses in denmark, norway, sweden and finland a merry christmas, a happy new year and the wish that jehovah in 2002 will bless his organisation by even more decrease as in the past 12 years in denmark.. carlo
the wish that Jehovah in 2002 will bless his organisation by even more decrease as in the past 12 years in Denmark.
...and I'd like to add the wish that Jehovah will bless Denmark's JWs with the "decrease" of a few certain people that I care about a lot. Please, Santa, get them "out of her", finally!
f.
darwin on trial is the title of a book on evolution that has ruffled the feathers of the secular scientific community.
though a christian, author philip johnson critiques evolutionary theory from a secular standpoint as he examines the philosophical games many scientists play to protect their evolutionary ideology.
johnson, a law professor at the university of california at berkeley, attacks head-on the often-heard statement that evolution is both a fact and a theory, an evolutionary dogma that has been a major source of confusion for a long time.
Your Posistion is simply non sensical.
clash, I'm not going to comment your arguments (or lack thereof) as I'm just casually reading this thread, but I think funkyderek has a good point: if you don't even make basic efforts to produce readable messages, your credibility suffers. Like it or not, text quality is the body language of the Internet.
I don't think English is your second language, but even if it is, you can still take a minute or two for proofreading. If you're dyslexic, let technology help you: spell checkers aren't perfect, but they help quite a bit. If you just don't care about spelling, don't expect people to read your messages from beginning to end or even take them seriously. More often than not, sloppy writing is a sign of sloppy thinking.
f.
